Paramedics waiting with patients in hospital ER hallways has become normalized over the past 15 years, but this practice must end immediately. Paramedics are unable to perform good quality patient care in hallway environments and it compromises their core mission of providing prehospital care and ambulance transportation. Having paramedics wait with patients in hallways also distracts from addressing the real issue of ER overcrowding. The practice is inappropriate and prevents ambulances from being quickly available during periods of high demand. Ending hallway waits could help eliminate frequent situations where no ambulance is available.

1. Ending The Practice Of Paramedics Waiting With Patients In Hospital ER Hallways.
Don Sharpe - Registered Paramedic - March 2017
Over the past 15 years, Paramedics waiting with Patients and Families in Hospital ER Hallways
has become normalized. News articles are published now almost daily detailing multi-day
Hospital Hallway waits, of patients who are often critically ill, across this country.
As an Advanced Care Paramedic registered in the Province of Alberta, my efforts to streamline
the integration of EMS patients into the Hospital Emergency Department begins as I approach
the Hospital Ambulance Bay and ends with the return into service of the vehicle and crew. A
project to reduce hazards and improve efficiencies was completed and presented at the 2014
Health Care Design Conference in San Diego and is available online.
Now the bottle-neck of a chaotic EMS triage process, combined with ER overcrowding and
hospital inpatient bed blocking have negated many of the efficiencies that EMS Continuous
Process Improvement Initiatives were designed to address.
EMS Managers have told me repeatedly, ‘Paramedic Hallway Waits Are Here to Stay’.
Alberta MLA’s have told me there is, ‘No Political Will to Change the Current System’.
Hospital Managers have told me, ‘It’s Impossible To Do Anything About This Problem’.
I accept none of their excuses.
For 3 reasons, Paramedics Waiting in Canadian Hospital Hallways must end immediately.
1. Paramedics waiting in Hospital ER Hallways with Patients IS GROSSLY INAPPROPRIATE.
Regardless of efforts to establish hallway care protocols, Paramedics are simply unable
to perform good quality patient care in this environment. Clashes with Nursing Staff are
inevitable as we advocate for bed assignments, Privacy and FOIP issues are ignored and
Cleanliness and Housekeeping requirements are performed far below any set Hospital
Standard. In addition, 2016-2017 provincial inquiries into patient deaths in hospital
hallways were laid directly at the feet of the hospital, regardless of the fact that patient
care was being performed by Paramedics.
2. Paramedics waiting in Hospital ER Hallways with Patients COMPROMISES OUR CORE
MISSION TO PROVIDE PREHOSPITAL CARE AND AMBULANCE TRANSPORTATION.
Frequent RED ALERTS, which occur several times per day during high usage periods and
where there is no ambulance available, could be virtually eliminated by simply ending
Paramedic Hospital ER Hallway Waits.
3. Paramedics waiting in Hospital ER Hallways with Patients IS DISTRACTING HOSPITAL
ADMINISTRATORS AND STAFF FROM SOLVING THE REAL ISSUE OF ER OVERCROWDING.
Paramedics have been used as a band-aid solution for too long, at enormous cost to our
patients, both in the Hospital ER Hallway and waiting for care in the Pre-Hospital setting.